REG-BlackRock Income and Growth Investment Trust Plc: Portfolio Update

Blackrock Income and Growth Investment TrustAnnouncement

21/10/2025 11:45

The information contained in this release was correct as at 30 September 2025.
Information on the Company’s up to date net asset values can be found on the
London Stock Exchange Website at:

 

https://www.londonstockexchange.com/exchange/news/market-news/market-news-home.html
                              .

 

BLACKROCK INCOME & GROWTH INVESTMENT TRUST PLC (LEI:5493003YBY59H9EJLJ16      
                        )

All information is at                                  30 September 2025      
                         and unaudited.

 

Performance at month end with net income reinvested

 

                              One   Month  Three   Months  One   Year  Three   Years  Five   Years  Since   1 April   2012  
 Sterling                                                                                                                   
 Share price                  -3.3%        2.6%            4.7%        27.1%          35.8%         151.7%                  
 Net asset value              1.7%         3.9%            8.2%        40.9%          65.0%         161.2%                  
 FTSE All-Share Total Return  1.9%         6.9%            16.2%       50.0%          84.1%         174.4%                  
                                                                                                                            
 Source: BlackRock                                                                                                          

 

BlackRock took over the investment management of the Company with effect from
1 April 2012.

 

At month end

Sterling:

 Net asset value – capital only:        231.92p     
 Net asset value – cum income*:         236.55p     
 Share price:                           204.00p     
 Total assets (including income):       £51.2m      
 Discount to cum-income NAV:            13.8%       
 Gearing:                               5.7%        
 Net yield**:                           3.7%        
 Ordinary shares in issue***:           19,104,110  
 Gearing range (as a % of net assets):  0-20%       
 Ongoing charges****:                   1.15%       
 *  Includes net revenue of 4.63  pence per share   
 ** The Company’s yield based on dividends announced in the last 12 months as at the date of the release of this announcement is 3.6% and includes the 2024 final dividend of 4.90p per share declared on 07 January 2025 with pay date 14 March 2025 and the Interim Dividend of 2.70p per share declared on 19 June 2025 with pay date 02 September 2025. 
 *** excludes 10,081,532  shares held in treasury.  
 **** The Company’s ongoing charges are calculated as a percentage of average daily net assets and using management fee and all other operating expenses excluding finance costs, direct transaction costs, custody transaction charges, VAT recovered, taxation and certain non-recurring items for the year ended 31 October 2024.  In addition, the Company’s Manager has also agreed to cap ongoing charges by rebating a portion of the management fee to the extent that the Company’s ongoing charges exceed 1.15% of 
 average net assets.                                

 

 Sector Analysis                      Total assets (%)  
 Banks                                11.5              
 Pharmaceuticals & Biotechnology      7.6               
 Nonequity Investment Instruments     6.2               
 Aerospace & Defense                  5.7               
 Oil & Gas Producers                  5.6               
 Nonlife Insurance                    5.4               
 Financial Services                   5.4               
 Software & Computer Services         5.3               
 Support Services                     4.9               
 Mining                               4.6               
 General Retailers                    4.3               
 Household Goods & Home Construction  4.0               
 Personal Goods                       3.5               
 Real Estate Investment Trusts        3.4               
 Electronic & Electrical Equipment    3.1               
 Industrial Engineering               2.7               
 Travel & Leisure                     2.7               
 Tobacco                              2.5               
 Life Insurance                       2.4               
 General Industrials                  1.1               
 Food Producers                       0.9               
 Beverages                            0.5               
 Net Current Assets                   6.7               
                                      -----             
 Total                                100.0             
                                      =====             
 Country Analysis                     Percentage        
 United Kingdom                       91.2              
 United States                        2.1               
 Net Current Assets                   6.7               
                                      -----             
                                      100.0             
                                                        
 Top 10 Holdings                      Fund %            
 AstraZeneca                          7.2               
 RELX                                 5.6               
 Shell                                4.3               
 Standard Chartered                   3.8               
 Lloyds Banking Group                 3.7               
 Unilever                             3.7               
 HSBC                                 3.7               
 Reckitt                              3.5               
 Rio Tinto                            3.2               
 3i Group                             3.1               
                                                        
                                                        
                                                        

Commenting on the markets, representing the Investment Manager noted:

 

 

Market Summary:

The “September Effect” refers to the historical tendency for stock markets
to underperform during September, with the S&P 500 averaging a 1.2% decline
since 1928, making it the weakest month of the year. With this in mind,
investors entered September cautiously— only to witness an exceptional
rally. Global equities posted their best September in 15 years, with major
benchmarks hitting record highs despite sluggish economic growth and
persistent political uncertainty.

 

The month opened against a tense backdrop in the U.K., where fiscal concerns
dominated headlines. Political reshuffles at No. 10 and speculation over
Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ influence ahead of the November budget unsettled
markets. Borrowing costs surged as the 30-year gilt yield climbed above 5.7%,
its highest since 1998, while long-dated yields in Germany, France, and the
Netherlands reached their highest levels since 2011. U.S. 30-year Treasury
yields also rose toward yearly highs amid mounting concerns over government
debt. These fears, as represented by elevated bond yields, faded over the
course of the month.

 

In the U.S., labour market weakness reinforced expectations for monetary
easing: August nonfarm payrolls increased by just 22,000, with downward
revisions to prior months and unemployment rising to 4.3%. Mid-month, the
Federal Reserve cut rates by 25 bps to 4.00–4.25%, its first reduction since
late 2024, describing the move as a “risk management cut” to prevent
further labour market deterioration. The cut, combined with AI-driven
optimism, fuelled a sharp rebound in equities. The S&P 500 gained 3.5% and the
tech heavy Nasdaq surged by 5.6%, their strongest September since 2010, as the
AI theme and Technology more broadly led the advance.

 

In the U.K., the Bank of England held its base rate at 4% and slowed
quantitative tightening to ease gilt market volatility. The FTSE All-Share
rose +1.9%, led by Financials and Industrials while Staples and Health Care
lagged. Whilst a positive month for the FTSE 100 and FTSE 250, it was very
much driven by miners, defence, and traditional value sectors. Several
“quality growth” shares in the UK performed poorly as concerns over
emerging competitive threats and AI disruption catalysed a selloff response.
In Europe, equities were steady, with the Stoxx 600 up +1.2% as the ECB kept
rates unchanged at 2%, noting that inflation is near target with a stable
economic growth outlook.

 

Meanwhile, U.S. politics added to late-month risk as a federal government
shutdown began on October 1 after Congress failed to pass a funding bill,
capping a month of strong equity gains with renewed uncertainty.

 

 

Stock comments

 

A top detractor from performance was                      Tate & Lyle,        
            the company’s operating performance has been impacted by
continued weakness in ingredients. This weakness is largely a function of
their customers shifting to a cost focused approach and away from prioritising
innovation. An underweight position in                      HSBC              
      also detracted after the shares outperformed both the market and the
rest of the bank sector on limited news-flow.                      Admiral
Group                     shares suffered despite no stock specific news.

 

The top contributor for the period was an underweight position in             
        Diageo                    . Diageo shares continue to struggle against
a negative backdrop for spirits in North America. Additionally, Fitch Ratings
revised Diageo’s outlook to Negative from Stable, citing elevated leverage
and macroeconomic uncertainty.                      Weir Group                
    shares benefitted from an announcement that they will be acquiring
Fast2Mine, a software provider to the mining industry. Commentary from peers
through the period also reiterated a healthy pipeline of activity for the
sector; rising copper and gold prices supportive of increased activity in
future.                      Rosebank Industries                     was
another large contributor, with Barclays initiating coverage at
‘overweight’, which saw the shares bounce on the day.

 

Changes                    
                      

We have started a position in                      Lancashire Holdings        
            as we believe that the change in the Bermuda regulatory capital
regime and a fairly benign wind season means that the company is likely to be
over-capitalised raising the potential for significant special dividends. We
also reduced                      British American Tobacco                    
following recent share price strength and the potential for increased price
competition in next generation products.

 

Outlook

 

The outlook for investment markets continues to be driven by a complex
interplay of elevated geopolitical uncertainty, easing monetary policy and
resilient demand. 1H25 saw global markets fall sharply as tariffs were
threatened only to be followed by an impressive recovery as proposed tariff
levels were lowered and their implementation delayed. However, tariffs remain
a key source of market volatility with the potential for outsized impacts on
specific industries and companies. Concerns regarding labour market weakness
prompted the FED to cut rates by 25bp in September with 2 more cuts now
expected for the rest of 2025. US President Trump’s deliberate
unpredictability, whether tariff related or more generally, suggests
volatility in both equity and bond markets is likely to remain elevated. These
factors have also driven weakness in the US Dollar impacting companies with
USD earnings. Our response is to focus on those companies that have strong and
sustainable competitive advantages alongside sufficient pricing power to
navigate these uncertain times while seeking opportunities that may result
from elevated volatility in markets.

 

The outlook for Europe is buoyed by a combination of rate cuts by the ECB
(from 3.0% to 2.0%) and significant fiscal expansion from Germany with an
emphasis on defence and infrastructure spending. This has already led to the
significant outperformance of European defence exposed companies though the
question is whether this spend stimulates economic activity more broadly in
Germany and then Europe as a whole. France is under increasing political and
economic pressure following a succession of failed budgets. In our
conversations with corporates, those exposed to highlighted industries, such
as defence, are very optimistic, yet the outlook more generally suggests
stabilisation rather than anything more for now. Meanwhile, China continues to
fight weak domestic demand and deflationary pressures with a broad range of
fiscal and monetary tools with limited success to date; the uncertainty
created by US tariffs clearly hampering their efforts.

 

In the UK, the Labour government seeks to thread the needle of stimulating
growth while preserving fiscal credibility and adhering to its election
pledges, a challenge not helped by external pressures such as US tariffs.
Meanwhile, UK savings rates remain elevated and real wages continue to grow
highlighting the potential for UK economic recovery when consumer and business
confidence improves. Whilst the UK’s hard data has showed stability, the
lack of visibility ahead of the Autumn budget restrains business confidence
and risk appetite.           

 

The UK stock market remains very depressed in valuation terms relative to
other developed markets offering double-digit discounts across a range of
valuation metrics. This valuation anomaly saw further reactions from UK
corporates who continue to use excess cashflows to fund buybacks. Combining
this with a dividend yield of 3.3% (FTSE All Share Index yield as at end of
September 2025; source: FT), the cash return of the UK market is attractive in
absolute terms and higher than other developed markets. This valuation anomaly
has also been evidenced by the continuation of inbound M&A for UK listed
companies. Although we anticipate further volatility ahead, we believe that
risk appetite will return and opportunities are emerging. We have identified
several potential opportunities with new positions initiated throughout the
year in both UK domestic and midcap companies.

 

We continue to focus the portfolio on cash generative businesses that we
believe offer durable, competitive advantages as we believe these companies
are best placed to drive returns over the long term. Whilst we anticipate
economic and market volatility will persist throughout the year, we are
excited by the opportunities this will likely create; by seeking to identify
the companies that strengthen their long-term prospects as well as attractive
turnaround situations.

 

 

 

 

 

 

21 October 2025

 

 



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